U.S. government

Letter asks that the government release its own transparency reports that show the number of individuals targeted and the number of accounts and devices covered. Supporting this would be more detailed transparency reports from the companies involved.

Google has filed a legal challenge to the U.S. government, demanding the right to reveal more information on the data requests it receives. It wants to publish how many FISA requests it receives and users or accounts encompassed within such requests.

Google spent more on U.S. lobbying efforts than any other technology firm in America, according to statistics from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Google reportedly outpaced Microsoft's lobbying spending by more than $7 million.

Google and the National Security Agency's possibly secret relationship will remain secret. The Federal Appeals Court has upheld the NSA's decision not to release information confirming or denying if they have a relationship with Google.

The federal government has cracked down on mortgage scams that claimed they could lower payments through government-backed programs. As 85 such companies are shut down, Google is coming under scrutiny for allowing them to post AdWords ads.

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Google will relax their real names policy and has earned accreditation from the U.S. government as an identity provider. Sergey Brin may need Google+ rehab, Apps support and brand tools are coming, and Google won’t jump back into the health space.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is asking bidders to send a proposal for a sentiment analysis solution that gathers location information and data from various social media outlets and news sources about the economy, and enhances government communications.

Google just halted the Google Friends newsletter after providing Google updates for 13 years – but that's far from the whole story. Here are seven Google projects that have been shut down since Larry Page took Google's reins in April.

An analysis of three years of queries reveals that search plays an important role in providing citizens with government-related information they need for their most pressing areas of need and assistance, in good times and bad.